The 1st Durham Engineers, later Durham Fortress Engineers, was a

Volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's Royal Engineers. First founded in 1868 it was sometimes united with the

Tyne Electrical Engineers The Tyne Electrical Engineers (TEE) is a Volunteer unit of the British Army that has existed under various titles since 1860. It has been the parent unit for a large number of units fulfilling specialist coastal and air defence roles in the Roya ...

, at other times it formed an independent unit. Although its main role was defence of the North East Coast of England, the unit sent detachments on active service to the Suakin Expedition, the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

, and the Western Front and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Volunteer Force

In 1868 a new unit of Engineer Volunteers (EV) was formed at Jarrow on the County Durham bank of the River Tyne. The 1st Durham EV was raised and commanded by

Charles Palmer Charles Palmer may refer to: * Charles Palmer (1777–1851), Member of Parliament for Bath * Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet (1822–1907), English shipbuilder, businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament, 1874–1907 * Sir Charles Palmer, 2nd Ba ...

(1822–1907), founder of

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern England, and also had operations in Hebburn and Willingto ...

and later the first mayor and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Jarrow. The 1st Durham initially comprised six companies and Palmer was commissioned as

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Commandant.''Official Army List'' 1868–88.Westlake, p. 7.Durham Fortress Engineers at Regiments.org
/ref> By 1874 the 1st Durham EV (now 8 companies strong) and the 1st Newcastle EV (1 company) were united into the 1st Durham Administrative Battalion EV, consolidated in 1880 as the 1st Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham EV, with Palmer as commanding officer and an establishment of 1300 men. In 1885, the Inspector-General of Fortifications, Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, sent a detachment of Volunteers to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

port of

Suakin Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

to assist the Regular Royal Engineers (RE) in railway construction for the British force engaged there. The detachment of 40 men was drawn from the 1st Newcastle & Durham EV and the 1st Lancashire EV. Palmer, by now created Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet of Grinkle Park, retired from the unit in 1888 with the rank of Colonel. The same year, the 1st Newcastle & Durham was split into three separate units: the 1st Durham RE (Volunteers), at Jarrow, and the Tyne Division RE (V), Submarine Miners, at

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, with Palmer as Honorary Commandant of both units,Tyne Electrical Engineers at Regiments.org
/ref> together with a new 1st Newcastle-on-Tyne RE (V) at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The 1st Durham RE (V) sent a detachment of one officer and 25 other ranks to assist the regular REs during the

in 1900, and a second section the following year.North East War Memorials Project, Ref J2.04
/ref>

Territorial Force

When the

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

were subsumed into the new

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

(TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the original plan was for the 1st Durham RE to provide the 1st Northumbrian Field Company and Divisional Signal Company in the TF's Northumbrian Division. However, by 1910 this plan had been altered, and instead the 1st Durham was redesignated the Durham Fortress Engineers, with the addition of an Electric Light Company provided by the

(formerly Submarine Miners). The organisation of the unit on the eve of the First World War was as follows:RE Fortress Companies at Long, Long Trail
/ref> Durham Fortress Engineers, RE * HQ at Western Road, Jarrow * No 1 Works Company at Jarrow * No 2 Works Company at Jarrow * No 3 Works Company at Gateshead The unit formed part of North Eastern Coastal Defences.

First World War

Territorial shoulder title of the Durham engineers

When the TF was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914, the Durham Fortress Engineers took up their places in the North Eastern Coastal Defences. At first they were employed on constructing field defences, erecting hutted camps, ''etc''. By the summer of 1915 there were three strong lines of entrenchments, bomb-proof shelters and dug-outs linking strongpoints and gun positions along the coast as well as the fixed defences at Tynemouth and Hartlepool. In August 1916 the Durham Fortress Engineers overcame shifting sand dunes to construct Link House Battery to defend Blyth Harbour. Although the coastal towns of NE England were bombarded by the German Navy on 16 December 1914 (

Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties ...

) and by

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

s in January and June 1915, it became clear that a fullscale German invasion of Britain was unlikely, while the armies in the field required large numbers of engineers. The Fortress Engineer units therefore began organising field companies for overseas service.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 62, 69. The Durham Fortress Engineers found three field companies, while the remainder of the unit continued to be employed around the Tyne Garrison. These companies were numbered 1st to 3rd (or formally 1/1st to 1/3rd, since they were composed of '1st-Line' Territorials who had volunteered for overseas service) and went to France in September 1915. A 530th (Durham) Reserve Field Company was also formed, from 2nd or even 3rd Line Territorials. This did not proceed overseas, and was probably quickly absorbed into the central training organisation.

1st Durham Field Company

1st Durham Field Company joined 4th Division in France on 20 September 1915 and served with it on the Western Front to the end of the war. It was renumbered 526th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.

2nd Durham Field Company

2nd Durham Field Company joined

5th Division In military terms, 5th Division may refer to: Infantry divisions * 5th Division (Australia) *5th Division (People's Republic of China) * 5th Division (Colombia) *Finnish 5th Division (Continuation War) * 5th Light Cavalry Division (France) *5th Mo ...

in France on 20 September 1915 and served with it on the Western Front until November 1917, when the division was transferred to the Italian Front. 5th Division returned to the Western Front in April 1918 and fought there until the end of the war. It was renumbered 527th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.

3rd Durham Field Company

3rd Durham Field Company landed at Le Havre on 18 September 1915 and joined

51st (Highland) Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

on 19 September, during the latter part of the Battle of the Somme. On 30 January 1916 it transferred to 7th Division (in exchange for a Highland Field Company) and served with it on the Western Front until November 1917 when the division was transferred to the Italian front. 7th Division then served in Italy until the end of the war. It was renumbered 528th (Durham) Field Company, RE, in February 1917.

Inter-War period

When the TF was reconstituted (as the Territorial Army (TA)) in 1920, the Durham Fortress Engineers was not reformed, but was absorbed into the

Post-Second World War

When the TA was reconstituted again in 1947, no less than seven units were reformed in the Tyne Electrical Engineers' lineage. These included 132 Field Engineer Regiment, RE, which was considered to be the successor of the Durham Fortress Engineers, with the following organisation:118–432 Rgts RE at British Army 1945 on.
/ref>
Watson & Rinaldi, p. 297.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 304. 132 Field Engineer Regiment, RE (TA) * HQ at Sunderland * 333 Field Squadron – ''redesignated 608 Field Squadron in 1953'' * 334 Field Squadron * 335 Field Squadron – ''transferred to 118 Construction Regiment, RE, in 1950'' * 336 Field Park Squadron The unit formed part of 22 Engineer Group in North East England, which was composed of units derived from the Tyne Electrical Engineers. On 31 October the regiment was joined by a new field squadron formed by conversion of 426th (Durham) Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery. It was numbered 336 Fd Sqn and absorbed the existing 336 Fd Park Sqn; it was redesignated 336 (Durham Coast) Crane Operating Squadron by 31 December 1956. The regiment was redesignated 132 Corps Engineer Regiment in 1957, but was disbanded in 1961. 336 Crane Operating Sqn had left the regiment in 1957; in 1965 it transferred to the Royal Corps of Transport. The regiment was disbanded in 1961, 608 Sqn disbanding and 334 Fd Sqn being absorbed into the Sunderland-based 233 Field Squadron of 105 Construction Regiment (Tyne Electrical Engineers).

Honorary Colonel

* Sir Charles Palmer, Bt, appointed 17 November 1888, died 1907.

Memorials

A memorial plaque was set up in

Jarrow Town Hall Jarrow Town Hall is a municipal building in Grange Road, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Jarrow Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History Following significant population growth, larg ...

to honour the two service sections of the 1st Durham RE who went to South Africa during the 2nd Boer War. A war memorial to the men of the Durham Fortress Engineers and the three field companies who served in the First World War was unveiled in Jarrow Drill Hall in 1928. An additional inscription to 233 Field Company, RE, was added after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The memorial is now in the RE TA Centre at Debdon Gardens, Gateshead.North East War Memorials Project Ref J2.33
/ref>

Notes

References

* Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'' (various edns). * Maj O.M. Short, Maj H. Sherlock, Capt L.E.C.M. Perowne and Lt M.A. Fraser, ''The History of the Tyne Electrical Engineers, Royal Engineers, 1884–1933'', 1933/Uckfield: Naval & Military, nd, . * Col Sir Charles M. Watson, ''History of the Corps of Royal Engineers'', Vol III, Chatham: Institution of Royal Engineers, reprint 1954. * Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, ''The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889–2018'', Tiger Lily Books, 2018, . * R.A. Westlake, ''Royal Engineers (Volunteers) 1859–1908'', Wembley: R.A. Westlake, 1983, .

External sources

British Army units from 1945 on

Great War Forum
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023003523/http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php , date=2015-10-23
''London Gazette''

The Long, Long Trail

North East War Memorials Project

* ttp://www.re-museum.co.uk RE Museum Military units and formations in County Durham Military history of Tyne and Wear